This simple Lemon Garlic Butter Pasta Sauce is absolutely delightful year round! The entire dish takes 20 minutes to complete and has just 6 ingredients, and the result is a delicious dreamy, bright, lemony pasta that is amazing alone as a vegetarian main dish or served with some easy marinated grilled chicken and quick-broiled asparagus.
I LOVE this pasta. It's one of those one-bowl meals that can absolutely stand alone, or be customized in a million different ways. This truly is the answer to the existential (or real-life!) question: what do you put in pasta when you have nothing?
Lemon garlic butter always has a home in my heart (hello, lemon garlic butter crispy chicken thighs!), and there are so many nights where I really need a TRUE 30-minute or less dinner.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's got 6 ingredients, plus any toppings you'd like.
- The prep can be done while you wait for the pasta water to boil, so this entire recipe can be done in under 30 minutes.
- The garlic butter sauce infused with fresh lemon juice is LEGIT drinkable, just so, so yummy.
- This recipe is endlessly customizable - I have some ideas below, but truly the sky's the limit for how you change this up and what meals you include it in! I particularly love this in the summertime with lemony kale salad on the side.
Ingredients
- Pasta: use any shape of pasta you like; I like plain spaghetti with this because it picks up the sauce really nicely.
- Butter: I use salted butter in everything in my kitchen including baking. I find that this yields a little extra flavor in everything, so know that if your butter is unsalted you may need a few extra pinches of salt to your finished pasta.
- Lemon: We use the entire lemon in this recipe. Zest the lemon first, then thinly slice HALF of it for the garlic butter sauce, and juice the rest of the lemon.
- Parmesan: The parmesan cheese in this recipe is stirred into the sauce and adds a ton of flavor. I like to use block parmesan here because it melts in a little bit better, but pre-grated jarred parm is fine too - use the best stuff you have, but don't fret.
See the recipe card below for full ingredient list and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Before you start the sauce, cook the pasta to al dente (whatever the package says!) in heavily salted water. Right before you drain the pasta, scoop out ½ cup or so of the starchy pasta water using a ladle or coffee mug. Let the pasta and water hang out while you finish the sauce.
Timing Pro Tip
You can absolutely make this sauce at the same time as the water for the pasta boils and the pasta cooks to save time. If you're busy with other things or worried about the timing, though, cook the pasta while you prep the lemon garlic butter ingredients, then quickly make the sauce right at the end.
Step 1: For the sauce, preheat a medium-sized skillet to medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the butter, the lemon slices, zest, and garlic.
Step 2: Let the garlic and lemon melt into the butter as everything in the skillet warms together, for about 2 minutes, then add the cooked pasta, parmesan, lemon juice, salt, and the rest of the butter.
Step 3: Turn the heat off the skillet, and toss everything together with tongs, tasting as you go and adding splashes of the reserved pasta water to create sauce around all the noodles.
Step 4: Add salt and more reserved pasta water until the dish is very flavorful and coated in just a bit of sauce. Top with anything you'd like, and serve!
Recipe FAQ and Pro Tips
Well, this is a lemon sauce, but I know what you mean. If you find that the lemon is too overpowering, add a few pinches of salt - sometimes that's all that's needed to counter the acidity. Another pat of butter and another tablespoon or two of pasta water will also help with this.
If you're super sensitive to lemon flavor, use half the lemon juice (just about a tablespoon) to start and add from there if you'd like.
Sure. You can make this lemon butter pasta in advance and reheat it gently in the microwave or stovetop. That said, it IS better fresh and since it's so quick, I like to eat it freshly and then reheat any leftovers in the microwave.
Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. I do find that the whole lemon slices can get a bit bitter in the fridge, so you may want to remove and toss those before putting away leftovers.
Serving Suggestions and Variations
The best part of this pasta recipe is that it can go with ANYTHING. Grilled marinated chicken? Yep. Cast iron skillet steak with shallots drizzled over top? Broiled asparagus on the side? Oh, absolutely.
If you want to add a bit to the pasta itself, you can do that too!
- Change up the toppings with other fresh herbs and spices, peppers, or chili oil.
- Add in leftover roasted chopped veggies to bulk up the dish.
- Scoop something fatty and creamy on top like pesto, mascarpone cheese, or cottage cheese (trust).
I hope you try this soon, and absolutely fall in love with it! It is the perfect light, bright canvas for any meal you're building, or on its own.
Other Super Quick Pasta Recipes
Recipe
Lemon Garlic Butter Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti or other type of pasta, your choice!
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 whole lemon zested, half thinly sliced, half juiced
- 4 cloves garlic minced or finely grated with the zester
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
- toppings of choice, such as flaky salt, extra parm, black or crushed red pepper, or fresh herbs
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta per the package directions. Right before draining, reserve ½ cup or so of the cooking liquid to use in the sauce.
- Meanwhile, start the lemon butter sauce. Heat a large skillet to medium heat with 2 tablespoons of the butter, the lemon slices, lemon zest, and minced garlic.
- When the butter has just melted and the garlic and lemon become fragrant (2 minutes or so after the butter melts, maybe less), add the pasta, parmesan, lemon juice (from the other half of the lemon), salt, and the rest of the butter to the skillet.
- Toss vigorously with tongs to combine the pasta with the butter sauce, then turn the heat off - this part will go very quickly. Splash in the reserved pasta water as you toss to create a sauce, then taste the pasta and add more salt to your preference - the dish should be very flavorful and all the noodles coated in a light sauce.
- Serve immediately, alone with toppings of choice or as part of your favorite dinner. Enjoy!
pvtcarlswife says
I made this sauce, added Cherry Tomatoes, as we love any pasta with tomatoes, and some chives, served with a Garlic Lemon Pork Loin, made a perfect meal.
Lindsay says
I love those additions, so glad you liked it!
Swathi says
This lemon garlic butter pasta is so delicious and easy to make it. I have made it.
Genevieve says
I LOVE pasta, and I mean LOVE pasta. Lemon and garlic make it that much better. This recipe looks delicious.
Amy says
love the simplicity of this pasta recipe and the lemony garlicky flavours
Andréa says
I made this recipe when I was having such a busy day because it's such a quick recipe, great for those days. The flavors were great! Certainly going to prepare it more often!
Vera says
I made this dish last night and I have to say that everyone loved it!
Criss says
Made the Lemon Garlic Butter Pasta and it’s so delicious! The creamy, zesty sauce makes it the perfect quick and tasty meal. Definitely adding this to my go-to recipes!
Sonja says
I didn't get around to shopping, so I was looking for an emergency storecupboard dish. This more than delivered. So simple and quick to make, yet a ton of buttery lemon-garlic flavor. Super satisfying!